Essays on Factors to Be Considered When Designing Sales Territories Assignment

The paper 'Factors to Be Considered When Designing Sales Territories" is a great example of a marketing assignment. Forecasting is a technique employed by businesses to estimate future aspects of the business. This is a critical management aspect for any business organization. The main role of forecasting in this context is to come as close as possible to an accurate future scenario. Forecasting is divided into two broad categories; qualitative and quantitative which are founded on the availability of historical time series data.
Qualitative forecasting techniques
These techniques employ expert judgment to come up with future forecasts; they are commonly used in scenarios where historical data is not available.

These methods are said to be subjective as they are based on the judgment and opinion of experts and/or consumers. Similarly, qualitative techniques are applied to intermediate or long-term decisions. Examples of these techniques include:
Consumer/User survey method
Panels of executive opinion
Sales-force composites
Delphi method
Bayesian decision theory
Product testing and test marketing
Quantitative forecasting techniques
These techniques are used when historical data on variables of interest are available; they are hinged on historical data with regard to the time series of particular variables of interest.

They are used to predict future data as a function of past data and are only appropriate for the availability of past data. These techniques are applied to short or intermediate-range decisions. There are two categories of quantitative techniques
Time series analysis which comprises of:
Moving averages
Exponential smoothing
Time series
Zee charts
Causal techniques which include:
Leading indicators
Simulation
Diffusion models
Advantages and Disadvantages of qualitative forecasting
Advantages
Qualitative forecasting techniques have the ability to predict changes in the sales patterns
They allow decision-makers to incorporate rich data sources consisting of their experience, intuition, and expert judgment
Disadvantages
The ability to forecast accurately can be reduced when:
Forecasters only consider readily available and/or recently perceived information
Forecasters’ inability to process a large amount of complex information
Forecasters being overconfident in their ability to forecast accurately
There are political factors within the organization as well as between organizations
Accuracy in forecasting can significantly be affected due to forecasters’ tendency to infer relationships or patterns in data when there are no patterns
Future accurate forecasts may be reduced particularly when forecasters try to justify instead of understanding the forecast that proves to be inaccurate.
Advantages and Disadvantages of quantitative forecasting
Advantages
Simplicity: it is simple forecasting method as compared to other forecasting methods that rely on qualitative data
Reliability: given the fact that these techniques depend on existing data they are more reliable thus can be used in situations that have elements of predictability.
Objectivity: quantitative forecasts are made based on available data and thus require less subjective interpretation.
Precision: they allow precise forecasts about future trends; information can be manipulated in ways that are reproducible and consistent which on the other hand enables specific forecasts.
Disadvantages
Some forecasting elements cannot be presented numerically such as political and social variables
Unavailability of quality data can hugely affect the accuracy of the forecast
Spurious decisions can give a misleading impression of the amount of knowledge available on the issue in question
Excessive formalization can result in decreasing levels of involvement by the participants.